Don't believe everything you hear
by cleopatrajack
Summary: There is a girl, who refused to be what the world told her she was. She doesn't know it yet, but her life is in-twinned with Winchester's in a way that will change everything- This story is all about dealing with what life gave you and creating something beautiful out of something dark. "We always have a choice, it just depends on whether we are strong enough to make the right one"
1. Chapter 1

9 months ago, a small woman with long black hair sneaks out of her caravan and her only home. It's a dark night with no moon and no stars, the kind of night when a lost soul might wander off and get caught by evil creatures, looking for a future to destroy and a soul to control. She looks around cautiously before catching sight of a tall figure in the darkness. She sighs and her breath clouds the air around her. She walks confidently towards it and disappears into the night, unknowing that small eyes are watching her from the caravan window and that a small boy is wondering where is mother is going. Now, that same woman is being wheeled through a hospital, screaming in pain and cursing that day 9 months ago. 2 hours and multiple screams later, she lies in her blood soaked bed and as she feels her life slipping from her grasp, a nurse tries to hand her the creation of her mistake. Even though her throat is hoarse and she has no energy left, she screams and pushes it away, refusing to let her soul be tarnished even more. And as she passes away, a doctor picks up the phone to contact the life she had run away from and the nurse shakes her head and holds the small black haired girl, unaware of what she would become.

It is now the 18th January 1989 and the black haired girl has hardly grown, thanks to her family's lack of nurture. She stands inside the main house on her family's farm, watching her cousins play through the window. Her brother is out on the fields with the other men in the family. If you stand at the gate leading to the fields on a quiet day, you can hear her grandfather, Martin, yelling and the unmistakable sound of a stick hitting her brother's back. It is early afternoon and her aunt Lillian would be having her nap before the men came back and she would have to cook them dinner. The girl decides to risk it and sneaks out of the room she is meant to stay in, downstairs and out into the courtyard. She stands in the doorway for a minute before gathering the courage to walk across the yard to where her cousins are playing. Her eldest cousin, Tara, is playing with her youngest cousin, Aaron, who, even though he is the same age as her brother, doesn't have to work in the fields all day. As Tara caught sight of the girl walking towards them, she straightens up and sneers nastily,

"Go away, freak. You're not allowed out of your room." The coldness in her voice didn't sway the girl who just answered in a meek voice,

"Please can I play with you?" Her request was met with a harsh laugh from Tara but Aaron picked up the ball they had been throwing and offered it to her,

"Yeah sure, here-" His sister stared down in disgust before pulling him away from the girl and batting the ball out of his hands,

"Don't be an idiot Aaron, she has no right to live in the same building as us let alone socialize!" He tucked his head down and backed away from the girl who was watching them with a blank stare. Tara looked back at the girl with narrow eyes,

"Why don't you crawl back to whatever hole you came from and leave us in peace, you filthy monster" The girl turned slowly to head back to the house but a loud recognisable shout stopped her in her tracks.

"REAGAN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT OF YOUR ROOM GIRL!?" She looked in the direction of the voice to see her grandfather dragging her brother up the dust track from the field. She froze with fear and her cousins ran back to house, eager to avoid their grandfather's wrath. Reagan didn't move until her grandfather was towering over her. He was so tall that he blocked out the sun and she was left in his cold shadow. Her aunt hurried out of the house, awoken by her children and came to a sudden stop when she saw Reagan's brother, his shirt split open at the back with blood dripping from the hundreds of lashings that his grandfather had kindly given him.

"Take Xander inside, Lillian and clean him up." The grandfather ordered, his heavy voice brimming with anger, "I need to have a word with our Reagan" As he raised his stick, bloody from beating Xander, her brother used the last of his strength to jump between his little sister and the weapon, catching it as his grandfather brought it down.

"What do you think you are doing boy!?" Martin grabbed Xander by what remained of his shirt and lifted him into the air. Reagan held on to her brother's arm and tried to pull him away,

"No Martin please… don't hurt him anymore… please!" Lillian pulled Reagan away from them as Martin strode around the house to where he kept the old whips, still holding Xander in the air. She struggled to contain the squirming girl who was now crying floods of tears that stung her face and blurred her vision. The only thing that stopped her efforts was the sound of a whip cracking and the cry of her brother as it hit his wounded back.


	2. Chapter 2

Later that evening, Reagan was sitting in the bare room she shared with her brother. It was in the attic of the house and the hole in the roof was covered in a sheet of tarpaulin that struggled to keep the rain or the wind out. The only features were a beaten mattress on a creaky metal bedframe, a thin blanket, a flat pillow, a leak tap, a small bowl and cloth from Xander's previous days of injuries and a chamber pot that stayed in the furthest corner of the room. Her face was still wet with tears and she desperately fiddled with the small woollen doll that she had found one day under one of the floorboards in the house. The sound of the bolt on the door opened made her sit up straight and as she stood up, the door opened to show her brother, all bandaged up and being supported by her aunt Lillian. Reagan rushed forward to retrieve her brother who groaned with pain as he was passed over. Reagan then hurried to lie him down on their only bed gently, flinching as he groaned again. As she turned to get some water for him, she realised that her aunt was still standing in the doorway. She looked at Xander guiltily before refusing to meet Reagan's hard stare.

"He should be okay now. I have put stiches in the cuts that needed them and ointment on the ones that don't" When Reagan didn't reply, she looked down at her feet awkwardly before continuing, "I am sorry about what happened… I really am…"

"But you didn't stop it. You could have tried but you didn't" Reagan's voice was clear but monotone, as if she had no emotion for her aunt.

"I can't do any more than you." Her aunt replied before Martin's familiar call for her return echoed through the house. Lillian threw Reagan an apologetic look before closing the door and sliding the bolt back into position. Reagan continued to fill up the bowl of water before hurrying back and wiping Xander's forehead. He groaned in pain again and she hushed him gently,

"It's okay Xan, it's okay, I'm here now." Her brother opened his eyes and looked at Reagan sadly.

"The real question is… are you okay Rea? Did he hurt you?" His voice was raspy and low, and Reagan poured some water down his dry throat as she shook her head.

"No, he had no energy left for me. It'll probably come tomorrow" Xander's eyes grew cloudy with determination and anger,

"He won't touch you tomorrow, or ever. Don't worry Rea, I won't let him hurt you…"

"It's okay Xan, it's only fair" Reagan reassured but Xander wasn't calming down.

"No, nothing this family does is fair" he argued.

"They didn't kill me. They gave me a chance."

"Yeah, in case they needed you later down the line. Why did we get stuck with the family of monsters?"

"Because God knew we could handle it. I read in in one of those books Lillian keeps in the bathroom. We only get problems that we can handle." Xander sighed and lay back on the bed,

"It's sweet that you believe that Rea, but you know God doesn't exist. Even if he did… he wouldn't care about us. In fact, we would be on the top of his Kill List." He closed his eyes as he drifted off to sleep, leaving Reagan kneeling by his side, trying to not lose hope.

Reagan woke to the usual thumping on the door and, as usual, she wondered when the door was eventually going to give up and buckle under weight of Martin's fists. Xander groaned on the bed above her and Martin's hard voice drove away any ounce of sleep left in her,

"Get up you two! Lillian has jobs for you Reagan and I want Xander downstairs, ready to fight, in 5 minutes." The thud of his boots against the wooden floor began to recede into the house and no one spoke until it was silent.

"Well," moaned Xander, "Looks like I have to get up" He attempted to heave himself off the bed but Reagan pushed him back down.

"You can't be serious! You are in no state to fight!" Xander just pushed her arms away before pulling himself up slowly,

"In Martin's eyes, I am always in the state to fight. Don't worry about me, I'll manage and then this evening I will teach you what I have learnt okay?" Reagan nodded her head silently before helping her brother to put on his ripped shirt from the day before.

About an hour later, Reagan found herself staring out of a window again at her cousins. She watched as they formed an orderly line, shoulder to shoulder, while Martin patrolled in front of them, like an army officer inspecting his recruits. Martin's booming voice was carried up by the cold wind and Reagan could hear him clear as a bell.

"Get over here, boy!" She looked down and saw Xander hobbling out to join the line. Both Tara and Miles, their middle cousin, sniggered as he dragged himself towards them while Aaron just watched him with a sad look on his face. This was a usual activity in their household. Martin, being an ex-hunter, refused to have his descendants ignorant of how to defend themselves against any species. Reagan wasn't allowed to join in, whether that was due to their fear of her or not, she never found out. Many people feared Reagan, well, she assumed they would. She had never left the farm, wasn't allowed to even go outside. Yet if you asked her what she had done to deserve such fear, she wouldn't be able to give you a believable answer. Apparently her mother had written to her family a few days before she had given birth to Reagan, detailing everything about her future child. Neither Reagan nor Xander had read the letter but whatever was in it, sealed Reagan's fate with the rest of her family. She knew she was powerful, but not to what extent her power could reach. Still, as she looked down on her so-called family, she decided that there was going to be a day when she would prove them all wrong. One day, her grandfather was going to look at her with real fear in his eyes, regretting every single time he had dared to harm a hair on either her or her brother. Just the thought of that victorious feeling spread a huge grin across Reagan's face and a spark of hope and new determination sprung up within her.


	3. Chapter 3

6 years later, nothing had changed. Reagan's powers had developed enough for the rest of the family to lock her up permanently in a steel room beneath the house. If she ever had an 'episode', all the children would be confined to their comfortable rooms as her grandfather and uncle would attempt to 'cleanse' her of her abnormality. Xander would always object to this and usually would have to be tied up in the courtyard so that the men could work in peace. It was after one of this interventions that the argument happened. As Xander and Reagan had grown older, they had become more defiant towards their grandfather especially. Xander would fight against him and argue for Reagan, both of which lead to beatings but by now, they were both used to them. The family was settling down for a meal when Martin had thrown his usual jab at Reagan and Xander had reacted accordingly. It all seemed normal, Martin ordered Xander into his office, undoubtedly for a beating and he slammed the sliding door closed with such force that it rebounded and left a gap about 2 inches wide, however he was too caught up in his anger to notice or care. He turned to face Xander who was standing like a soldier; straight, rigid and emotionless. Martin raised his hand, as if he was going to slap Xander for the hundredth time but something in him calmed and he lowered his arm gently before sighing,

"Oh Xander, I don't want to do this to you…" Xander stared at his grandfather is disbelief as the old man seemed to change in front of his eyes. Unknown to both of them, Reagan had crept up on the other side of the sliding doors and was watching the interaction through the gap.

"Listen boy, I know that none of this is your fault and now I understand that I haven't been dealing with you or your sister correctly. I would like to make amends and this is my way of beginning to say sorry." He passed Xander an envelope and Xander took it cautiously. He opened it and began to read the long formal letter addressed to him.

"What…what is this?" he stuttered. Martin looked down at him proudly,

"That is an acceptation letter from Bourneheals Boarding School for Boys. It is a great school, most people have to pay through the nose but I know the headmaster and he got you in on a scholarship. You will be leaving in September!" Xander just stared back at him blankly, immune to Martin's excitement.

"Can Reagan come?" he asked monotone.

Martin's shoulders stiffened slightly but he tried to keep the tension out of his voice,

"Haha no Xander… it's a boys school… for boys. Reagan isn't a boy, is she Xander?" This time it was Xander who stiffened at Martin's patronising tone.

"If Reagan doesn't go, I don't go." He said determined.

Martin sighed and led Xander over to his large desk.

"Now Xander, I understand that you want to stay with Reagan but you're growing up now and surely you have realised that you can't go on living like this? Reagan is… special but you're not! Well, not in a negative way. Don't you see? I'm trying to help you boy. This is your chance for you to be free. And without her pulling you down, you can go on to live a happy and long life. It's what your mother would have wanted…" At the sound of his mother, Xander stiffened and his fists clenched into tight balls. He went to insult Martin and his idiocy as he usually did but something stopped him this time. He wasn't sure what but whatever it was, it caused him to hesitate for long enough that Reagan, who had been listening the whole time, burst through the doors in floods of tears. Martin and Xander turned in shock as she ran past them and out the front door like lightening. Xander looked up at Martin before deciding,

"No, I won't go anywhere without Reagan. You dump her, you dump me." He looked up defiantly as the grandfather he knew began to bubble back to the surface.

"Fine you ungrateful piece of shit, that's one load of trouble of my shoulders." As he reached behind him, probably searching for something to hit Xander with, Xander bolted out of the door after Reagan. He paused for a moment on the front lawn, taking in his surroundings. Neither he nor Reagan had ever been on this side of the house. The moon was hidden by the forest on the other side of a dirt track that presumably lead away to civilisation. Trying to think like Reagan, Xander figured that she would try to get a view of the moon, one of her few comforts in life other than him. When he had hurried across the track and into the forest, he managed to follow her pretty easily because of the smoking holes in the trees from her occasional blasts that she had left along the way. He found her sobbing on a fallen tree and approached her cautiously, so not to scare her and make her fire something his way. He sat down next to her and tried to apologize,

"Hey Rea, listen…"

"Don't leave me Xander" Her voice was so quiet he would have missed it if they had been anywhere but a deathly still forest. He put his arm around her and hugged her tightly,

"I'm never gonna leave you Rea, you know that."

"But Martin said…"

"Martin said anything he could say in order to make me go to his stuffy school. I wasn't going to go obviously." Reagan sniffed and Xander could tell that she wasn't convinced. Part of him felt offended that she would believe that he would leave her but the logical part of his brain told him not to make a big deal about it.

"How about this, I have the stupid letter they sent me so why don't we burn it. It has no use anymore." At the sound of burning something, Reagan was a lot more interested and sat up straight. Xander pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket and uncrumpled it so that it was flat.

"Come on Rea, light it up." Reagan smiled slightly and a spark flew from her fingers, igniting the paper. Xander dropped it onto the forest floor and they watched as it burnt.

"See that Rea? That means that I will never leave you and you will never leave me." Reagan smiled at the thought of being with Xander forever but the ever-present reminder of the rest of their family still clouded her happiness,

"Martin will never let you stay with me. They want to abandon me Xander, I heard them talking about it. They think I'm too dangerous…" She began to shake but Xander's calming hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Screw Martin, in fact screw them all. I don't care if they leave us. We will survive by ourselves." Reagan looked at him worriedly,

"But what about food and shelter? We can't live by ourselves, we'll starve!" Xander stroked her hair reassuringly and hugged her before standing up and pulling her to her feet,

"We'll be okay, I promise. We should get back so that you can get your things then we leave straight away." He began to stride in the direction of the house but Reagan pulled him back,

"Straight away? What about goodbyes?" Xander looked her straight in the eye and said,

"Rea, they don't care for goodbyes. They will leave us anyway, might as well be on our terms." He took off again and this time Reagan let him lead her back. She didn't feel comfortable with Xander's plan but she trusted him and if he said that was what they were going to do, then she would do it.

As she was beginning to convince herself that this was the right thing to do, they cleared the woods and were faced with the building that they had called home entirely on fire. Flames leapt from every window, casting an orange glow down onto their faces, Reagan could feel the intense heat from where she was standing. Xander took off in a sprint to the front door, leaving a very shocked Reagan frozen and staring at the house. When she realised he was planning to go inside she called out for him to stop but, as fate would have it, something else stopped him. A seriously injured Martin lay in the front lawn, he reached up and grabbed Xander's ankle as he ran past and pulled him to the ground. Reagan ran over as Xander sat staring at Martin's blood soaked body.

"Xander… get out of here… It's come for her…" His bloodshot eyes turned to Reagan who had fallen to her knees and was sobbing quietly. Martin looked up at Reagan with hate and bitter regret, they locked eyes in a stare that would haunt Reagan for years to come,

"I always knew you would kill us… I should have thrown you out when I had the chance..." he rasped with his final breath before his eyes clouded over and his body fell limp. Reagan covered her face with her hands and Xander just shook his head disappointedly. He looked up at the house wistfully but his melancholy gaze was met with a tall dark figure standing on the porch watching them. Xander's eyes grew wide with fear and he jumped up and ran, pulling a confused Reagan along behind him. He had only gone a few steps though before the thing was miraculously in front of him. It lifted him off the ground by his throat and began strangling him with a monstrous strength. Reagan screamed and a white blast shot from her fingers onto the figure. It dropped Xander, who fell to his knees coughing, and began to burn at an inhumane rate, like tissue paper on a bonfire. They watched until it was nothing but a pile of darkened ash and dirt. Xander looked at Reagan who was trembling, either from the cold or the shock. He stretched out his hand and she took it without hesitating. They walked down the front path silently but at the gate, Reagan looked back to the house and to the life that she could have had, and she watched as the flames claimed every part of it and burnt it down.

A few days later, Reagan crouched behind the tarpaulin that they had gathered and spread between two trees for shelter. As the sound of sirens passed, she peered out timidly and looked around, wishing the Xander would hurry back from wherever he had gone. Just as she was debating whether or not to go find him, strong hands grabbed her from behind. She squealed as she was pulled back but a dirty cloth covered her mouth so that no sound escaped. She was pulled up against the person who grabbed her and his voice in her ear was raspy and thick,

"Listen, I have your brother and now I have you. Don't worry, I'm a friend." As he said that, Reagan's eyes began to droop and she fell to the ground unconscious.

Reagan woke to voices, drifting in and out of her head,

"What did you do to her?!"

"Nothing serious, just made my job easier."

"She's unconscious!"

"Not my problem"

"Well I'm gonna make it your problem, you filthy waste of space!" Reagan recognised Xander's voice and tried to pull herself out of the mind bog she seemed to be stuck in.

"Yeah good luck with that, I would be more scared if I wasn't being threatened by a child with smoke inhalation…" At the sound of her brother being injured, Reagan forced her eyes open and sat up. The room swayed and her head felt like someone was whisking her brains into a mush.

"Reagan!" As her head fell back to the pillow, her brother's hands caught it and he looked down into her drugged eyes with relief,

"Get some water quickly" Her vision was clearing by the second and she turned her head to see the mysterious man who had taken her and who now was grumbling about ungrateful children whilst filling a dirty glass with water. He was about 50, but his appearance was very misleading. His long grey hair and dirty beard seemed suitable for a 70 year old but his athleticism and the stability of his hands were recognisable of a 20 year old. He wore a lot of layers, all with odd stains and ragged patches covering the many holes that he had acquired through the years of wearing them. The room they were in looked like it was about to fall down any minute. It was full of junk that normal people had thrown away but this man obviously had found other uses for them. Random pieces of wood and plastic were haphazardly nailed across the gaps in the walls and Reagan could feel the wind as it whistled through them. It was all lit by a couple of old rusty gas lamps that threw a warm but dirty glow across the room. She was brought back into the room by the man clearing his throat. She looked up at him and saw that he was offering the glass of water. As she took it thankfully, he rolled his eyes and, turning to a dusty armchair, grumbled,

"Great, trust Toni to have two crazy kids." At the sound of his mother, Xander perked up and eagerly starting asking questions,

"You knew our mum?" The old man grinned a toothy grin and leant back in his chair, lighting his pipe,

"Ha yeah, I knew her. Probably better than most. I was her closest confidant. Not hard to be considering her family's lack of general happiness."

"Did you know where she went? Before she died?" The old man's expression grew solemn and he nodded his head sadly,

"Yes I did. I tried to talk her out of it, like every other person in this goddamn town but she didn't listen. She was infatuated with that man, but I didn't like him. I felt down in my gut, something about him was wrong, and, in hindsight, I was right." His gaze turned to Reagan who just looked back in confusion. She sat up with Xander's help and fixed the man with a hard stare,

"What do you mean? What was wrong with him? Who was he? Was he my dad? Does that mean something is wrong with me too? Who are you anyway?" The old man grinned at all her questions and settled back down into his chair,

"Calm down sweetie, all in good time. My name is Arthur McGuildy but you can call me Art. I didn't know who you dad was until Toni died…"

"Her name was Antonia" Xander interrupted sternly but Arthur just shrugged,

"Not to me it wasn't. Anyway, before she died she called me saying how she had been tricked by a monster, the evilest monster there had ever been and now she was going to bring something even worse into the world. She told me to look up everything on the First Vessel and, consequently, the Devil's Child. I agreed but when I asked her if there was anything I could do to help, she just muttered no over and over, until she told me that if the douchebags she called a family ever tried to harm Xander or her future child, a.k.a. you little lass, then I was to take you both away. Give you the up-bringing you deserved, a good one. But life got in the way and because of a small misunderstanding that was blown up into a big mess, most likely by your jolly Granddaddy, I got 10 years in jail." Reagan and Xander sat in silence, both of them, but Reagan especially, had very confused ideas of their mother. Whenever Reagan dared to ask Martin or anyone else in the family about her, all she got was a flood of swear words and curses against her mum's name. Xander had tried to convince her they weren't true but over time the few memories he had of her grew dimmer and the every present hatred and lies began to infiltrate his mind until even he didn't know what was truth and what was false. The idea of her mother actually caring for her and wishing for her to be loved when she couldn't do it herself brought tears to Reagan's eyes but she pushed them back, determined to ask her final question, but not knowing if she wanted the answer,

"What is the Devil's Child?" she asked timidly and Arthur got up from his chair and crossed the small room to a table covered in papers.

"Well, what I found out is that the Devil's Child is the spawn of Lucifer, literally." He looked over at them before asking,

"Do either of you know the Bible?" At the shaking of their heads, he sighed and after finding the papers he needed, wandered back and fell down into his chair,

"Okay then, in the beginning God banished Lucifer from heaven because he refused to love humans more than God. Not many people know but, during his fall from Heaven to Hell, Lucifer supposedly grabbed a human being in an attempt to stop falling. This human was an ordinary man, one of the first ever created, and now he had an angel inside him. At that time, angels weren't supposed to be able to inhabit humans but Lucifer did, and because of his uncontrollable rage and power, he left behind an imprint of himself on that man. This imprint caused the man to become immortal and be in control of the angelic powers that Lucifer himself had left behind, a human Lucifer if you will. God was supposed to have destroyed this new creature long ago, but some out there believe he survived God's wrath. When Toni told me that he had impregnated her, I hardly believed it…"

"Wait, what?" Xander's surprise seemed to break both Arthur and Reagan out of a trance and they both looked at him in confusion.

"Are you telling us that Reagan is the child of this First Vessel?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you, stupid. Haven't you been listening?" Xander huffed before asking grumpily,

"Fine but if Reagan is this Devil's Child or whatever, then what does that mean?"

"If you had let me finish instead of interrupting like a toddler then you'd know!" Arthur replied sharply before taking a deep breath and continuing,

"The legend goes that the First Vessel was on a mission from Lucifer, to create the Devil's Child. He had to get a woman pregnant and that baby would be born a mix between angel and human, the most powerful weapon on the planet. Obviously he had to choose carefully, not everyone is kitted out with the strength or will to become a supersonic warrior. This Devil's Child is supposedly said to rise up against humanity and God's Holy Host and destroy them all, creating Hell on Earth for Lucifer to reign." Only when he had finished, did Arthur look up from the papers in his hands to see a very pale Reagan and a worried Xander looking over at her. 1 million things were rushing through Reagan's tired mind, the most prominent being that they were right. Martin, her family, everyone. She was a monster.

"I am a monster" Silent tears started to roll down her cheeks and Xander's attempts at calming her fell on deaf ears.

"You don't know that…" Xander's voice held about as much certainty as Reagan felt.

"I do know that, Arthur literally just said it Xander! At least it all makes sense now. What choice do I have?" As she said that, Arthur, who had been watching her outburst expressionless, suddenly slammed his hands down on the arms of the chair, causing both Xander and Reagan to jump.

"Okay listen here Rolan, or whatever your name is. You decide what you do. No one can make you do anything. We always have a choice, it just depends on whether we are strong enough to make the right one. Are you strong enough?


	4. Chapter 4

An 18 year old Reagan walks out of a gas station holding a paper bag. Her short black hair blows in the autumn wind and she instinctively pulls her brother's old jacket tightly around her small but muscly frame. She looks around carefully before starting down the dark street. She eventually stops at an abandoned house on the outskirts of town and, pulling back the cut wire fence, strolls through. She enters through the backdoor and is rummaging in the bag when she notices all her brother's stuff gone. A strike of fear shoots through her before Xander wanders into the room from the kitchen. Since that night of the fire, he has bulked out quite a lot, one of the benefits of living with supernatural bullseye for a sister. He looks up from drying his hands and smiles,

"Oh hey Rea…" She does her best to change her expression but he notices the fear before it can be replaced by thinly veiled relief,

"Xander" she sighed thankfully, "Where's your stuff?" Xander shuffles his feet and looks down at his feet.

"Yeah we're moving"

"Why? We just got here." She becomes suspicious of his awkward attitude and when he doesn't answer her, she continues "What happened? What did you do?"

"Nothing except stop us from freezing this winter" he snaps defensively. At this her suspicion grows rapidly but she doesn't say anything, offering him the chance to explain. Seeing her raised eyebrow and questioning look, Xander continues to justify himself, "I met them just after you had left. They saw us move in and wanted to know who we were. Turns out their hunters Rea! More people like us! They offered to let us stay through the winter and, knowing our previous tricky situations in winter, I thought it was a good idea…"

"To what? Live with random strangers we don't know? Please tell me you aren't that stupid"

"I'm not stupid and it's what's happening so get used to it! I've already packed and we are going to theirs now." Xander glared and tried to intimidate his little sister into doing what he wanted but, like usual, it didn't work. She just glared back but silently grabbed the bag she had brought in and walked back out the door she had come in. He sighed and followed.

They pulled up at an old warehouse on the other side of town. Looking up at in in disdain, Reagan said sarcastically

"Wow this is a huge improvement on where we were. Instead of just freezing to death, here rats can eat us after we die!" Xander ignored her quip like he did with all the others.

"Just trust me okay?" As he got out, Reagan rolled her eyes and groaned before she too got out. They stood shoulder to shoulder in the shadow of this huge building and Reagan was already regretting allowing this to happen.

"There's no place like home" she said quietly before Xander walked up to the only visible door and knocking hard. They only had to wait a few seconds before the door slide open an inch and a deep voice came from the darkness inside,

"Who are you?"

"Josh told us to come" answered Xander to Reagan's surprise and the door slammed shut. As the sound of numerous bolts being undone filled the air, Xander looked back at Reagan's questionable stance,

"Josh huh?" He ignored her again and turned back just as the door swung open to reveal an enormous man. He made Xander look small and Reagan look like a speck of dust.

"This way" He gestured down a small corridor. Xander strode past him quickly and Reagan struggled to keep up but as she passed the guard, she noticed a symbol branded into the man's arm. She recognised it but before she could ask Xander they were being pushed through a door into a circular hall. Unlike the corridor, this room held the full height of the warehouse they were in but the dirty skylights were the only indication they were in the same building that they had driven up to. The whole room was lit by a huge pit of fire in the centre that threw a warm glow on all the surroundings. The walls were black and circular, adorned with symbols painted in red and dark wooden high backed chairs followed the wall round meeting at a more ornate chair opposite the siblings. The whole scene looked like a set in a horror fantasy movie but the feature that creeped Reagan out the most was the people. There were about 20 of them, some standing, some sitting in the chairs, but all staring at them. They all wore dark cloaks and if Reagan couldn't have heard them breathing, she would have sworn they were statues. As was typical of Reagan, she decided to try and take control of the situation,

"Well isn't this the cosiest place in the world, good choice Xander. Next time go for less creepy, more normal" Xander just looked at her with contempt as the figure sitting in the ornate chair opposite them stood up,

"Xander, you didn't tell me your sister had such a… personality" As Xander was about to reply, Reagan cut him off,

"I'm gonna go for a shot in the dark and say that you are Josh." The man smiled a perfect smile and spread his arms welcomingly,

"The one and only" Xander tried to intercede again but Reagan refused to let him.

"Well then Josh, I'm really sorry my dumbass brother made you believe that this was gonna happen 'cause it's not. Nothing personal, just don't really like socializing, especially with creepy dudes in long robes that need some Vitamin D." She turned to storm off down the corridor she had come from but the enormous guard blocked her way with his branded arm.

"Come now Miss Black, the Venatores Sanguinis only want to welcome the Devil's Child in the warmest way possible." At this both Xander and Reagan froze. She turned slowly before stalking to her brother and whispering,

"Please tell me you did not agree to join the Venatores Sanguinis."

"Do I look like I agreed to join? How do they know who you are" he whispered viciously.

"I don't think you want the answer to that. Charles behind you will take you to your room if you want to fresh up…" Josh's voice was silky smooth and it unnerved Reagan tremendously.

"Actually we have a few questions so back up Gigantosorous." Reagan stepped forward as Josh smiled at her expectantly. "We aren't going to join anything so if I were you, I would get your buddy to step away from the door before we have to move him." Josh laughed daintily,

"It's so sweet that you think you have the upper hand. You are in our headquarters now and no one, other than the brothers, leave here alive. So get down of that high horse of yours sweetheart, you need us a lot more than we need you." Reagan stared at the irritatingly feminine man with disgust and she could feel her anger bubbling up inside of her. But before she could do anything, Xander's grunt from behind her made her turn to see him being shackled and held down by Giganto and at least 2 other brothers. She whirled back around and tried to push the air forward but found it wasn't obeying her.

"Don't even bother trying to work your little tricks in here Miss Black." Josh stepped down off the platform his chair was on, "The symbols on the walls aren't just for decoration you know" Reagan looked around with pure hatred pouring off her,

"You knew we were coming"

"Of course we knew, as soon as you pulled into this mess of a town, you were destined to join our ranks-."

"I make my destiny and no offence Josh, but you ain't in it" Like lightening, she whipped out a dagger and fired it at Josh. As Giganto grabbed Reagan, one of the brothers leapt in front of Josh and the dagger embedded itself into his chest. He fell to the floor with a thud. The other men just stared down at the dead man in silence as Josh mumbled some words down at him before straightening up and walking around the fire pit to Reagan, who was struggling against the phenomenal strength of her captor.

"Look what you have done," Josh stood face to face with Reagan, his smug smirk rivalled by her furious snarl, "You've killed one of my friends. His name was Jacob." Reagan struggled again before growling through gritted teeth,

"Yeah, you look really torn up about it. Pardon me if I don't break down into tears." Josh stiffened and his smile flat lined.

"I feel the pain of every brother, their deaths cause another part of me to slip away" Reagan smiled nastily,

"Well thank you that makes me feel a lot better" Josh didn't react but Reagan could see the hate and anger rising in his eyes. He turned to where a brother was holding an ornate chalice and reached into his cloak, pulling out a long slim knife. He then closed his palm around the blade and cut across his hand, causing his dark blood to drop into the chalice. As he was doing this, another brother was collecting Jacob's blood from his dead body.

"It really is sad that Jacob had to die," Josh turned back to Reagan holding the chalice whilst a brother wrapped his cut hand in a cloth, "but then again someone had to. After all, the ceremony only works with a dead brother's blood. But at least his replacement will be not only our first female, but also the Devil's Child" As he walked in front of Reagan, the brother with Jacob's blood came round the fire pit and joined him, holding the slightly less ornate chalice aloft. As he started to pour Jacob's blood into Josh's chalice, the other brothers all started to chant,

Complectimur te, novum fratrem. Ergo calice nostri sanguinis bibes et perpetuo conlegio te astringis.

They repeated this over and over as Reagan and Xander watched the two bloods being mixed together. When the smaller chalice was empty, Josh looked at Reagan with knowing eyes,

"You first Miss Black," he walked over to her with a victorious smile on his face. Reagan stared back in defiance,

"Sure thing Joshy, can you just hold this a sec?" She pulled out the knife that she had stabbed into Giganto's heart before the ceremony had started, and breaking free of the dead man's arms, plunged it into Josh's chest. The chanting stopped and no one moved as Josh spluttered and clung to life, and Reagan, desperately. Reagan stared into his dying eyes and a satisfied smile spread across her face.

"You have no idea how much I have wanted to do that." As Josh fell to the floor, Reagan stepped back and surveyed the rest of the brothers,

"Hi guys, I just killed Josh… who wants to be next?" As the nearest man charged at her, Xander broke free of his captors and proceeded to attack any of the brothers that attempted to flee down the only corridor while Reagan started to unleash all the anger Josh had created inside of her. She whirled around the room like a deadly tornado, slashing and striking, killing anyone and anything in her way. When she reached Jacob, she yanked her dagger out of his chest before plunging it into another man. The fight continued this way and, as more brothers poured into the room, Reagan wondered if they were going to get out of this one. Eventually the last brother was dead and Reagan stood in the middle of the room, surveying her destruction. Xander had a pile of dead surrounding him as well but his method of killing was different to Reagan's. Where hers was sharp and swift, his took a lot more hammering and generally left his opposition without their skull intact. They were both covered in blood, not all of it theirs, and had both sustained a few injuries, the most serious being the long gash in Xander's leg and the slice on Reagans forehead, both quietly spewing blood. Xander hobbled over to Reagan, who stood still as a statue. When he reached her, he put his hand on her shoulder to stabilize himself and she looked at him emotionless,

"In hindsight, we should probably prepared more for that" As Xander grunted his reply, Reagan turned to support him and they both hobbled out of the warehouse, leaving over 100 dead men behind them.


	5. Chapter 5

2 years after the extinction of the Venatores Sanguinis, Xander found himself in America. It was very different from what everyone had said about it. Aunt Lillian used to speak of her adventures in America before she met her husband but Martin's cold stare had often cut her short. He strolled down the tarmac street in some backwater town in Texas. His hair had grown out and he had gotten taller but other than that, they was no really change in his appearance. If, of course, you forget that he watched his little sister get thrown into hell by her own goddamn father, but that was soon to be taken care of. Just the thought of that monster's smug smile as his sister screamed and the blinding flash that followed, made his blood boil and the scowl that seemed to be permanently etched into his face grow deeper. He clenched his fist as he passed 2 men and the soda in his forgotten can was sprayed out all over them.

"Hey!" Xander just grunted at the two men, the wet one staring in anger and shock and the dry one trying not to laugh.

"Hey, aren't you gonna apologize?!" The wet man was fuming for good reason and Xander was interested in a fight but didn't want to have to restrain himself for the other man's safety.

"Come on Dean, it's not worth it" The dry man pulled the other one back but his stance was surprisingly relaxed for such a tall man. Xander turned away from the men and continued down the road. He had no time for whiney Americans and the dead end on his First Vessel hunt didn't lighten his mood.

Later that evening, Xander had taken his usual place at the local bar, in the corner next to the door. He liked being hidden by the shadows, here he could see everyone and everything. They didn't even know he was there unless he wanted them to. As he was settling down with his first drink, fate delivered a group of people that would change everything for him.

Aaron Black and the Winchesters walked into the bar, it was dark and smelled like stale beer and body sweat but they had seen worse. As they made their way to the bar, a low voice called from a small table in the corner.

"Aaron?"

They all turned to see a huge man emerge from the shadows. He was 6 foot 5 at least and even Sam felt small in his presence, which was a first for him. He was wearing a tight dark grey shirt underneath a black leather jacket and his faded jeans hung loosely over his heavy boots. His jet black hair fell roughly across his forehead, like someone had cut it with garden shears. His features were sharp and angular, his mouth was set into a grim line and he looked like he hadn't smiled in decades. But the thing that unnerved the boys the most was his eyes. In ordinary light they were dark blue but in the dimness of the bar, they looked pitch black. Dean recognised him as the man who had showered him in soda earlier and reached for his gun but Aaron stopped him.

"Xander?" He stepped closer to the stranger before attempting to envelop him in a hug. Xander stood surprised as his cousin hugged him before hesitantly putting his arms around Aaron. When Aaron had pulled away, Xander had returned to his cool demeanour.

"It's been a long time Xander. I'm sorry about…"

"You're supposed to be dead" His voice was low and gruff and lacked any sign of emotion. Sam and Dean looked taken aback by his harsh comment but Aaron just laughed it off.

"I see you're as articulate as ever. As fate would have it, I survived. I didn't come find you though, didn't think you would want to see me."

"Not then no, but now… you showed kindness and for that I won't kill you" Aaron looked a bit uneasy but the smile only wavered for a second before he regained his composure.

"I'll get us some drinks" Xander turned and walked to the bar surprisingly gracefully for his size. The others sat at Xander's table with Dean watching Xander's every move. Sam leant forward across the table to Aaron who was trying to relax.

"Who is he?" he asked in hushed tones as Dean turned away from the bar and fixated Aaron with a hard stare

"More like what is he?" he asked accusingly

"He is nothing, just my cousin. I know he is kinda creepy but honestly he is harmless enough. Not very good people skills but then again he didn't really need to communicate with others until…"

"I have our drinks"

They all jumped as Xander appeared next to them.

"You move fast don't ya Happy?" Dean said half smiling

Xander said nothing and stared at Dean expressionless. Growing uncomfortable under Xander's hard gaze, Dean challenged Aaron to a drinking game. As they attempted to see who could balance the most shot glasses on their face, Sam came and sat next to Xander. He was curious about his reaction to seeing Aaron and the topic that he and Aaron had been continuing to avoid.

"So Xander, where are you from?" he asked in a cheerful voice. Xander turned his stare to Sam for a few seconds before replying.

"England, the south."

"Oh okay, why did you come to America? Surely your family are still there?"

"All my family are dead…except for Aaron."

"Yeah what's on with that? How do you not know your own cousin is alive?"

"We didn't exactly get along"

"And what if others were alive but in England? Don't you even want to know?"

"If they were alive and I knew, I'd kill them."

Sam stared at Xander in an attempt to see any emotion but there was none. His face was a blank as a stone slate. His dark eyes seemed to go on forever and Sam felt a nasty shiver go down his spine. They heard a smash and turned to see Aaron laughing on the floor surrounded by broken glass. Dean, who was also laughing hysterically, was struggling to stay on his chair. Xander got up and seemed to block all the light from the small table lamp behind him.

"I have to go now. Goodbye Aaron" He turned and left the bar in silence. Sam helped Aaron up and secured Dean in his chair before he turned to Aaron with an inquisitive look on his face.

"Aaron, if you don't mind me asking, what killed your family?" Aaron hiccupped and grinned at Sam.

"Oh you want to know? Of course! Something came for my cousin and killed my family to do so. It was all very confusing. I was quite young then, about 14ish. We were eating dinner and my father was really angry about… something, can't remember what. Anyway suddenly the front door was kicked down and this person came in. I didn't get a good look at them because my mum had rushed me into the kitchen. She pushed me into the cupboard and as the door closed, she screamed. I stayed there until it started to fill up with smoke. Then I crept out to see every room on fire. I heard a scream from the front lawn so I went to go and help, that's how we were raised ya see. They scream, you save, simple. But when I got there, it turns out I couldn't save them. Suddenly a bright white blast knocked me off my feet and I woke up in hospital... Well wasn't that a fun story eh kids?" Aaron burped and reached for another glass. Sam, keeping his eyes fixed on Aaron, pushed it out of reach,

"But how did Xander survive then?"

"I have no clue Hammy Sammy. Ha! Hammy Sammy! I'm hilarious…" He started laughing and Dean joined in after a while. Sam gave up on interrogating Aaron and retreated to his thoughts, leaving Dean and Aaron to their own devices. How did Xander survive? Especially if that thing was after him? It apparently slaughtered a whole family of hunters in a blink of an eye yet something stopped it killing Xander. And what was that bright light Aaron mentioned? It leaving? Something else arriving? And is it coincidence that the first time they have a solid lead on the Devil's Child, they also meet some creepy dude with an eerily similar backstory? His head swam with questions that he had no answers to, and he had a suspicion that the only place he was going to find them was from Xander.


End file.
